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CURRENT TOPICS.I

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CURRENT TOPICS. Heroes of Peace. PROBABLY but few people, even among those residing in tNloarth Wales, are aware of the his- toric incident attached to the picturesque vil- Lage of Llanddulas. It is generally known that a lifeboat is stationed there, but how many are acquainted with the fact that off that coast1 has been enacted, one of the most stirring scenes in the long and; glorious history of the National Lifeboat Institution? As thrilling as any ro- mance is the story of the rescue of the crew of the Ocean Queen" by the brave Welsh quiarrytmem and tradespeople in the terrible storm of 1890. Who can read of the repeated attempts, made in, the face of the utmost danger, to affect the rescue with- out feeling a thrill of national pride at the thought that the deed was accomplished by our own kinsmen? It is doubtful whether we suffi- ciently appreciate the merit of the many acts of courage performed in time of peace. Whether or not it is necessary toi foster a military spirit in the nation is a question, upon which there is much diversity of opinion. It is pleasing to remember, however, that the inherent courage of our race needs not the inducement of the clash of arms to manifest itself, and the know- ledge that thera are among us as brave hearts as in days of yore should serve as protection against the statements 01 those gloomy people who, are perpetually assuring us that as a na- tion we compare unfavourably with our fore- fathers. Colwyn Bay Police. MAJOR LEADBETTER, the Chief Constable of Denbighshire, stated at f riday's meeting of the Standing Joint Committee his intention, to. ask next spring for an increase of the police force stationed at Colwyn Bay. We hope that me Chief Constable will carry out that intention, 'and that the Police. Committee will accede to the request. Improvements have recently been brought about in; this matter, but the fact re- mains that Colwyn Bay is considerably under- policed, having regard to the population and the character and extent of the district, the number of officers and men at Llandudno and other neighbouring resorts, and the size of the staff at Wrexham. There is iplenity of work for the pre- sent Colwyn Bay force in the town, itself, but in addition Superintendent Beresford has to travel about the wide dliivisioin under his charge and his men have to go into the extensive rural dis- trict to witness the sheep-dipping. Superintend- ent Beresford is proving an. excellent officer in every way, but he is considerably hampered run his work by the inadequacy of his staff. The Chief Constable has the ratepayers of the town alTIlQ district at his back in making his applica- tion. Vale of Conway Fishing. TRAVELLING up the Vale of 'Conway on Satur- day I(a correspondent writes), I made, the acquaintance in the railway carriage of a Scots gentleman staying at Talyoafn, and from his conversation I gathered that he had visited (nineteen different countries and was a keen sportsman. First of all: we talked about scenery, and he assured me that in his opinion the River Conway at its widest ipart was fully equal to the Dower Rhine. Fishing was the next topic, and then he became) somewhat severe. He was very pleased with the sport afforded by the Conway and neighbouring rivers, but declared that the authorities had much ito learn from Scotland in the matter of making the best of this excellent asset. There was plenty of .salmon and other fish in these waters, he said, but the sport was spoiled for visitors by excessive poaching,. which ou^ht to be. puit down with a heavy hand. He added that no doubt the Board of Conservators were doing their ibest, but that their efforts could be of no avail unless and until they had the whole of the rivers supervised by them under their own absolute control, instead of portions beillllg managed by private occupiers. If the Vale of Conway, he remarked, diesired to con- tinue to attract angling visitors, then something must be done very speedily in the direction he ry had suggested. I am not in a position to ex- press an opinion upon. these observations, but I suggest that they are worthy of publication in order that they may be brought to the notice of those directly concerned. Glan Conway School. IT MAY BE just as well to mention, in order to forestall possible accusations of policitical bias, that we are quite unaware of the category to which the elementary school at Glan Conway belOlngs-Whether it is a provided" or a non- provided," a "Council" or a "National" School, or whether it should be included in any other list. The only reason we have for referring to the school at all is that a serious statement about it—whether it was a true statement or not remains itloi be seem—as to its being overcrowded was made to the District Education Authority on Monday. Not only was the air-space shown to be totally inadequate to the number of scholars in daily attendance, but it was said that there was only one wash-hand basin, for the use of the whole school. This, if correct, represents a serious menace to the health of the locali y, and immediate steps should-and must be taken 'either to disprove the allegation lor, if it can- not be disproved, to. establish a better state of affairs. „* Creating" U nemployables." LIFE IN N ORTHW ALES has its sad side as well as its pleasant, and the sadness is increased when we reflect that it might be avoided. We refer to the way in which young people are neglected after leaving sdhool and to the inevit- able result of that neglect—the creation of ran- empl'oyables," especially amongst the+ boys What serves to further enhance the pathos of the whole thing is that our leaders, although fully aware of the facts, seem to be blindly in- different to their significance and seriousness. A large number of boys of about thirteen years of age leave, the North Wales primary schools every Year, and owing to the comparative fewness of our industries, these lads have to face the world without any prospects in life. The aipprentice- ship system has unfortunately broken down in this country .and even if it still existed there are an immense number of parents, who would refuse to avail themselves of it, for the reason that they desire to. make all the money they can out of their children's labour and the conse- quence is that the boys, instead of being put to learn a trade upon which they may be able to rely through life, seize hold of any odd job that may happen to. offer itself. SOME eke out a few shillings a week as errand boys, others as golf caddies, and so on, little realising that these forms of labour are demoral- ising in every way and serve as. a bar to. their future advancement. While thus engaged, they learn (nothing, and the time is wasted which should be given up to training for work of a permanent character. After a few years of the casual and inevitably badly paid labour de- scribed, they .find themselves at the age of six- teen or seventeen, unable to earn- a living wage and unlfit to engage in more lucrative employ- ment. It is in this way, briefly stated, that we are creating unemployables" and adding to the ranks of the unemployed, those street-corner loungers who disfigure our streets and are a blot upon our vaunted civilisation. These able- bodied young men, who are eager to. secure work but are unfit to be entrusted with it, are in that condition chiefly because their time and opportunities have been wasted, and worse than wasted. They have forgotten what little know. ledge they acquired in the day school, amdi they have neither the capacity nor the desire to. make up for the lost time. Evidently, the only hope for these "oul.1ig men lies in attendance at the evening classes, organised with so much care by the committees and at such great expense to the ratepayers. For the reasons for the existing conditioin of things we shall have to go down to the very roots of our social and industrial sys- tem but certainly the best thing the youths referred to can do :is to take immediate and full advantage of the educational facilities offered to them by the evening schools. I

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